


Victoria Quill And The Crystal Keep

by skreid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts, Magic, Witches, Wizards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 14:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11038038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skreid/pseuds/skreid
Summary: Victoria Quill is in her sixth year at Hogwarts, and her love for the castle hasn't dwindled an ounce. But when a new headmaster arrives to take over the school of magic, things begin to change. Victoria will have to use all of her knowledge and strength to uncover a secret the new headmaster desperately wants to keep hidden.A Harry Potter fan-fiction. What began as a gift for my very best friend became a much bigger project, that I'd love to share with Potter fans. Cover art by Linn Puzzles (@Linnpuzzle on Twitter).





	1. An Unexpected Meeting

Victoria Quill held her hood close to her chin. It was raining heavily, big fat drops that splashed onto her muddy boots and wet her arms and wrists. She couldn't help but shiver; this London weather was really beginning to dampen her mood. She couldn't linger in sadness however. The murky glow of the train station announced itself through the mist, and she longed for a warm cup of cocoa and a plush train seat to take her away.

The station was dismal this morning. She was early. It was out of character for Victoria, but she was itching with anticipation to get back to the gloomy castle. She loaded her luggage onto a rusted dolly, taking care to precariously stack her owl's cage on the very top. She felt Philomela stir underneath the blue satin. One of her wings poked at the fabric.

"Hush, Phil." The owl cooed in annoyance, fluttering her pale tan wings. Philomela seemed just as anxious to return to Hogwarts as Victoria did. Victoria stepped quicker, approaching the platform. The bronze 3/4s of the emblazoned 9 3/4s platform dangled on one screw precariously. Victoria frowned at it and then turned to gauge the small crowd. No one seemed to be particularly interested in the slim blonde. Her wand slid out from her sleeve, and with an expert flick, the numbers righted themselves, firmly in place for the next century and a half thanks to Victoria's sticky magic.

With a running start and a trilling heart, she skipped through the brick wall and was greeted by a screaming train whistle. The magical platform was much more populated; wizards and witches beckoning tearful goodbyes, friends reuniting after a summer term at home. She wove through the crowds, smiling faintly at classmates who waved hello. The massive red engine touted a greeting as well, which elicited a grin from Victoria. She didn't bother hushing Philomela. Her beak poked out of the cage, chittering excitedly.

"Tor!" A blur of grey flew into Victoria's path, nearly sending her luggage scattering. Arms wrapped around her and squeezed with constrictor strength. It could only be Sarah.

"God! I thought you wouldn't be here for another hour at least," Sarah was a sunbeam, smiling from ear to ear. Her wild blonde hair fell at her shoulders, lopped off and curled tightly in frizzy loops.

"Your hair!"

"I know, isn't it just such a shock?" She picked up the ends of her hair and held them out straight. "It took me ages to get it right, but it beats a perm, right?"

Victoria laughed, pealing breathy bells. "When they lifted the ban on magic, they meant that for protection purposes, Sarah. Not so you could become a hairdresser."

"Pish posh," she said, frowning. But not for long. She let out a high squeal, grabbing Victoria's shoulders for another long embrace. "I'm so glad you're here! Did Rebecca drop you off?"

Victoria shook her head, strands of damp golden hair falling in front of her eyes. "They're still in France. I convinced her I could make it here on my own."

"Clearly." Sarah grabbed one of Victoria's blue suitcases, then thought better of it, letting it fall back onto the rack. Philomela squawked in protest. "Hullo, Phil," Sarah said, peeking under the cover.

"Where's Pasta?" Victoria asked, pushing the rack alongside Sarah as they walked to the tracks. As if to answer her question, quivering whiskers peeked out of the pocket on Sarah's frock. Baby white paws pulled the little rat up so she could see out over the crowd. Sarah reached down and let the tubby rat perch on her shoulder, her paws rubbing her ears thoughtfully.

"She's gotten fat," Victoria teased. "What are you feeding her?"

"She likes the fish and chips here. Can you imagine? It's so charming to see her nibble on the fries. In fact," Sarah reached into her other pocket and pulled out a greasy fry coated in lint. "Watch her now." She passed the fry up to Pasta, who perched with the food between her paws and happily bit the fry in two. Sarah took one of the pieces and passed it to Philomela, despite Victoria's protests.

"Are you excited to be back?" Victoria asked after they stepped onto the train. The low hum of students chattering in the closed cars filled the air. If she closed her eyes, she could smell the pastry cart that would make its rounds. Her mouth watered at the thought of a pumpkin pastry or a chocolate frog.

"I was having a perfectly fine summer," Sarah called over her shoulder. "Lucas invited me to spend June with him in Rhode Island. I swear, he-move, please," Sarah said, elbowing around a first-year.

"Sarah. Be nice." Victoria could barely stifle her laughter.

"Don't take up the whole aisle, maybe." The terrified first-year had fallen into an open car, to the chagrin of the third-year girls within. Victoria shook her head, following close behind Sarah's bobbing blonde head. Sarah grinned and waved to their friends as they passed, but kept a tight hold on Victoria's sleeve. At last, Sarah collapsed into a car, sighing heavily and slumping down on the plush velvet.

"There's too many new students," she complained, making no move to help Victoria load her luggage onto the alcove above their heads. "This train is filled to bursting with bratty first-years."

"Sarah," Victoria said, folding her legs onto the seat across from her, "Just because you're a Slytherin doesn't mean you have to be so mean."

Sarah rolled her heavy hazel eyes in response. "I don't have to be, but I like to." As if to prove her point, she grimaced horribly at a gaggle of girls that made a move to open the car-door. Shrieking, they continued on down the aisle, giggling and whooping. Sarah's wand flew out from her boot; with a swooping motion, the shades on the windows flew down to conceal them from prying eyes.

"Tor, you have to tell me. How was Italy?" Sarah reached back into her pocket and pulled out half of a muffin, dusting the grey fuzz off the top.

"It was warm. I'm ready to come back."

"How is Rebecca? Raewyn?"

Victoria sighed. "Mom is still teaching. She loves Italy, I mean, loves it. She's very taken with the beaches and the food."

"Mmmmm, the food!" Sarah agreed.

"Raewyn moved back home," Victoria continued, removing the drape from Philomela's cage. "She missed her friends too much." Victoria hesitated. "She's still upset about not getting her letter."

"Oh, geez." Sarah's face fell. "Rebecca isn't a witch! And she isn't sour about it."

"It's different with Raewyn," Victoria said, petting Phil's downy head. "I think she's still got her fingers crossed that she's just a late bloomer."

"She's 13, Tor." But that was all Sarah said on the subject, because she knew that was all Victoria wanted to tell.

The train insistently called out to the students, letting them know it was time to say their final goodbyes. Sarah flew to the window to madly wave at her parents before the train wearily began to trudge along. She shouted to the parents and siblings still on the tracks, but Victoria pulled her back when she started to showcase her middle finger to the waiting crowds.

Victoria settled back into her seat, sleepily watching Sarah chitter to Pasta. The rat rubbed her paws knowingly, eyeing Phil. Phil glowered at the rat, fuming inside her cage. Victoria reached out to stroke her wing, calming the seething bird.

She turned to look out the window. The train was up to speed now, chugging along decidedly. Wispy gray smoke muddled the deep green trees outside, mixing into a dreamy gray-green mess. Her gaze drifted, her eyes closed, and she fell into a much-needed sleep.

* * *

The bell of the trolley woke her gently from her slumber. She glanced up; Sarah was sitting with her legs crossed, a book on her lap, and her wand between her teeth.

"You're not supposed to chew on that." Victoria reached out to pull the slim dark wand out of Sarah's mouth, but she dodged her fingers, smirking.

"Good afternoon, sunshine. Did you have a nice nap?"

Victoria stretched luxuriously. "How much longer?"

Sarah shrugged, turning her attention back to the bloody mystery novel she was invested in. "Maybe another hour. It's strange the cart's coming around this late."

Victoria's stomach painfully reminded her how hungry she was. She had skipped breakfast in lieu of arriving at the train station earlier, a decision she was coming to regret. Her mouth watered as the cart drew closer. Sarah leapt to slam open the door, just as the cheerful matron stopped at their coach.

An exchange of a few Galleons left Victoria with two chocolate frogs, a bag of crisps, and a croissant dripping with honey. Sarah bought a box of the frogs and a hot roll for Pasta, who grabbed at the breading hungrily. The two spread their treasures over the seat, marveling at their meal. Sarah set to ripping open the frogs hurriedly, biting their heads off before they could hop too far.

"Who'd you get?"

Sarah frowned at the winking face on the card. "Another Harry Potter. He's in every other frog." With her wand and an expression of determination, she folded the card into a bird and sent it flying down the hall. "The Boy Who Lived," she added sarcastically.

Victoria broke open her own frogs. Severus Snape peered out at her, his menacing stare sending chills down her spine. The other frog hopped off of Fred Weasley's mirthful face, and Victoria wanted to laugh just to look at him.

"I got Snape and Fred Weasley." Victoria showcased the cards to Sarah, who had come upon three more Potters.

"Oooh, let me see!" Sarah pulled the cards from her grasp. "Fred is sooo dreamy," Sarah crooned. "Maybe I got a George to match."

A rap at the door drew the attention from their spread. Sarah stood to answer, stifling a laugh when she saw the visitor.

"Hullo, Charles," Sarah said, gesturing the boy inside. Victoria had to quell her laughter; a flock of Sarah's flapping frog cards had been ensnared in Charles' thick curls. He grinned at the girls.

"I'm assuming these are yours, Sarah." He pulled one down and inspected it carefully, letting it flap weakly before it fell to the floor.

"Sorry, Charlie." Victoria stood on her tiptoes to rescue the rest of the paper birds.

"Victoria. How was your break?" Charles said to the floor as Victoria combed through his hair. After she gave him the all clear, he straightened.

"It was alright. Nothing too wild happened." Victoria sat back down, across from Sarah. "I am glad to be back though."

Charles grinned sheepishly, leaning against the doorframe. "That's alright. Did you hear they were opening a wizarding school in America?" He paused, rubbing his head. "Do you think you'll transfer?"

Victoria caught a menacing look from Sarah out of the corner of her eye. "Oh no, I don't think so. I only have two more years, after all."

Charles relaxed. "Yes, I suppose you're right about that. We'd miss you at Hogwarts anyway." The train whistled insistently and Charles glanced to the front. "We must be pulling in soon. I'd better go find my mates. Bye, Sarah. Goodbye, Victoria." And he slid the door shut and made his way back towards the front of the train.

Sarah whirled to Victoria. "Tor! What the hell? Charles got cute?"

Victoria smiled softly. "Hmm? I didn't notice."

Sarah threw a wrapper into Victoria's lap. "You so did! He was fawning all over you!" Sarah swooned into her seat. "Oh, dearest Victoria, you won't be leaving us, will you?" Her atrocious British accent made Victoria laugh.

"Stop! He was not!"

"Agree to disagree." Sarah sat back up, pulling her black robes out of her bag. "He is seriously so good-looking now, Tor. I think you should go after that."

Victoria shook her head as she smoothed her tie and robes. "He's a year seven Hufflepuff. He's on the Quidditch team."

"And you're a year six Ravenclaw. You're already out of his league," Sarah teased. She stood in front of Victoria impatiently. "Don't believe me if you want, but it's my professional opinion that Charles Brantley is most definitely enamored with a certain Victoria Quill."

Before Victoria could protest again, the train shuddered to a slow stop. Victoria felt her heart swell in her chest as she flew to the window. There, between the dark and foreboding trees of the Forbidden forest, past the murky waters of Black Lake, beyond the rippling flags of the Quidditch field, Victoria could just make out the winding turrets of the Hogwarts castle. At last, she was back where she belonged.

"Come on then," she whispered reverently to Sarah. Even the tow-headed Slytherin couldn't keep the smile from her lips as she bounded from the train car. The two girls leapt to the spongy earth, marveling (as they always did) at the self-driving carriages waiting for the students to depart for the castle. Victoria spotted Charles Brantley's golden curls disappearing into a black carriage, but she quelled the desire to follow. Instead, she let Sarah pull her into the front-most coach with a cluster of winsome Gryffindors. As they pulled away from the station, Victoria was at the open windowpane, watching her familiar hunting grounds slip past. The wind caressed her cheeks and ruffled Phil's feathers. She closed her eyes and smiled dreamily. This was home.

* * *

The castle could be seen as menacing to some, but Victoria had never felt afraid of its looming stone walls. Her fingers found the pockmarks in the stone that wizard and witches' wands had made in the Battle of Hogwarts many years before. As she passed through the tall double doors of the Great Hall, she felt a surging sense of happiness. Phil cooed at her side, and Victoria knelt to release her from her rattling cage. She watched as the bird soared to the rafters to join the other owls roosting above the burgeoning storm clouds clustered at the ceiling. The roll of thunder from the sparking clouds could barely be heard above the stampeding of students through the halls.

"There you are." Victoria felt a hand graze her elbow, and she looked to see the prim Rosalind at her side.

"Rosa, how was your summer?"

Rosa rolled her eyes and an exaggerated sigh escaped from her lips. "Dreary. I can't begin to tell you how depressing Bath is in the summer rain. The entire town is one shade of despicable gray. It's haunting." Rosa gifted Victoria with a radiant smile. "It's lovely to see you again! My visit to Italy was the highlight of my vacation." Her attention turned to the students crowding the staircase to the upper towers. "You haven't made it up to the dormitories yet, have you?"

Victoria shook her head. "I'll wait for the first years to clear the common room before I make it up to our tower. I'll see you at dinner though, yes?"

Rosalind nodded, her honey-brown hair skirting her shoulders. "Save me a seat near the front." Her voice dropped to a low whisper. "The new headmaster's arriving soon. I want to get a good glimpse of who'll be at the helm this year." And with that, Rosa dipped away to join the sea of students heading upstairs. Victoria was left alone to wander the hallowed halls.

She made her way back outside to the main courtyard. It was empty outside, save for a tittering couple who had found an empty alcove to nuzzle into. Victoria left them to their pre-pubescent affairs and trekked down to the herbology greenhouses to clear her head.

* * *

Amidst the plants and greenery, Victoria felt her manic happiness melting away to a quiet contentment. A light rain had finally burst over the grounds, pattering the glass roof in a pleasant rhythm. Victoria sat on a mossy bench to gather her thoughts and listened to the raindrops pitter patter against the greenhouse walls. The quiet breaths of the sleeping Mandrakes, the grisly hum of the Mimbulus mimbletonia; they provided a soft accompaniment to Victoria's careful collections of the day.

"I used to like it here when I was a student."

An unfamiliar voice leapt from the winding vines of the Wiggentree. Victoria scrambled to her feet, peering through the dry golden leaves. A tall, slender woman brushed the branches aside with a loving caress. A shining gray braid hung at her waist, and she was dressed in long emerald robes, with open billowing sleeves. "I would come here in the mornings, even before Professor Sprout came in to feed the flobberworms. It was quiet and cool and small." She paused, rubbing the pus from the bubotuber between her fingers. "That was something that's always perturbed me about Hogwarts. It's so massive. Here, I understand every leaf and stone." The woman looked to Victoria, looked right at her. It was a look that would have been unnerving coming from any other stranger, but the woman's expression was calming.

"Are you a new professor here?"

The woman laughed, a heavy low sound. "I'm hardly new. It was almost forty years ago that I was a student here."

Victoria's Ravenclaw mind put the pieces together effortlessly. "You're the new headmaster. Of course."

The woman smiled, and Victoria felt waves of pride crash over her. She suddenly wanted desperately to please this woman, to receive another pearly smile.

"Very clever. I arrived this morning, before your peers. I managed to slip away from the other dowdy professors," she said, winking mischievously, "And I found myself here, much like you have." She took a few sweeping steps towards Victoria, extending a slim hand. Her pale wrist was exposed by her open sleeve, revealing tendrils of green on white skin. Victoria took her hand and shook it, enamored.

"Victoria Quill."

The woman raised her eyebrows in playful esteem. "Ms. Quill, it's a pleasure. I am Shyla Seraphim: Herbology enthusiast and new headmaster of Hogwarts."

* * *

The Great Hall was filled to the brim with robed students. Clamors of excitement rose up from the tables in swells as students found one another after months of separation. Victoria scanned the crowd as she made her way to the Ravenclaw table, a book pressed to her chest. She could hear the gentle din of the first-years outside the mahogany doors, awaiting their fate. The Sorting Hat laid crumpled on its stool, and Victoria was treated to her own memory of the hat. She could hear its whispering behind her temples like it was only yesterday.

"Hmmm...Gryffindor tendencies, with a dash of Slytherin. Could be Hufflepuff. But we've got to go...RAVENCLAW!"

Victoria had been the one of the last to be sorted, and she could still recall the beaming faces of her fellow Ravenclaws as she flew into their open arms. She remembered Sarah's crestfallen expression when the Sorting Hat was removed from her eyes, but Victoria had always known nothing could come between them, not even their separation of houses. No bond between witches had ever been as strong.

She found Paxton at the head of the Ravenclaw table. Paxton turned his attention from the floating candles above to make room for Victoria.

"Seen Rosa yet?" Paxton pushed his glasses down to the bridge of his freckled nose to peer at Victoria.

"I ran into her earlier. She didn't beat me here?"

Paxton frowned, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration. "I was looking for her. I thought she would be with you."

Victoria shrugged off his displeasure. "She'll be here. Just running late is all." She found Sarah across the table, talking animatedly with a crowd of brooding Slytherins. Her hands gripped a spoon and knife, walking them along the table and clashing them together in swordplay. She was a bright spot amongst the gloomy Slytherin house.

Rosa slumped down beside her, her robes billowing out like a flower. "Phew! It took me ages to get down here. The staircases have changed again. That's another schedule I've got to memorize then." She leaned around Victoria to smile prettily at Paxton. "Hello, Pax."

His knee stopped jostling the table at the sound of her voice. "Rosa! I thought you'd forgotten about us." Victoria couldn't help but smother a laugh as she watched the normally nervous wallflower blossom into a smooth operator with the dark beauty. Before Rosa could respond with a smotheringly sweet retort, the new headmaster entered the hall. A hush gradually fell over the Great Hall as her footsteps on the cool stone reverberated off the windows and walls. Victoria was in awe of the woman, and she could have sworn the headmaster glanced her way before taking the owl-encrusted podium.

"Students of Hogwarts," she began, her lilting voice echoing to the back of the room, "It is my great pleasure and duty to have been called to join you this year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I am Headmaster Seraphim, and though it has been many years since I have walked these hallowed halls, this place still retains that magical aura I recalled. And that is because of you, the lifeblood of this school. You, the future wizards and witches of the world.

"I do not know yet who we have among us. We may have the next Minister of Magic in our midst. Maybe the next great Seeker is at your table. Or you may be across from a wizard or witch who cures dragon pox. You, students, have the potential to become legends in the wizarding society. You have the necessary tools to change the wizarding world as you see fit, and I am merely an onlooker to your greatness.

"The bonds you forge here in this school will last a lifetime. The battles you fight in and outside of the classroom will determine your worth as a witch or wizard. There is no telling what you will learn this year, but I only hope I can aid each of you in discovering the great witch or wizard that rests deep inside each of you. Like a pheonix, you will rise from your ashes and become something truly wonderful to behold."

Her words shook Victoria to the core. A pride swelled in her chest like a hummingbird, flitting around her ribcage and fluttering against her heart. As the roar of applause escalated, the new headmaster took her seat, smiling to the other professors and waving to the whooping students. Victoria scanned the jubilant hall as the witches and wizards got to their feet to welcome the new headmaster. Her eyes fell on Sarah, who sat silently staring at Headmaster Seraphim with a cold glare that chilled Victoria to her very soul.

* * *

Victoria didn't have a chance to pull Sarah aside after dinner. The Gryffindors roared up the steps, touting the first-years on their shoulders like Quidditch prodigies. The Slytherins left soundlessly, slipping down to their dungeon without a word between them. Sarah was gone before Victoria could make her way through the raucous swarm of students.

"You alright, Quill?" Charles Brantley stepped out of the surge to stand with Victoria. The Hufflepuffs continued on without him, chattering amongst themselves like pine martens.

"Fine, thanks." Victoria leaned against the Great Hall doorframe, looking up to the sparkling ceiling.

"Did you miss your staircase?" Charles asked, grinning.

Victoria shook her head, a glimmer of a smile gracing her lips. There was no denying that Charlie was nice...and nice-looking. She caught herself admiring his golden boy curls in class many times before, and it was all she could do to keep from doing it now.

"I was looking for Sarah...but she seems to have gotten along without me."

Charles laughed pleasantly. "It's strange to see you without her. The two of you are conjoined at the hip it seems." He rubbed the back of his head, suddenly conscious of his loud throaty laugh. "Do you mind if I walk you up to your common room? I'd like to stretch my legs before heading back to the Hufflepuff dormitories."

Victoria felt a happy trill in her breast but quieted it. "Are you sure? It's an awful long walk."

Charles stammered, crest-fallen, "Ah, well, some other-"

"No!" Victoria said, too loudly and a mite too quickly. "Er, no. It's alright. I could use the company."

A smile, just for Victoria. "Brilliant," Charles replied. "You'll have to lead the way. I've never been higher than the Ancient Runes classroom on the sixth floor."

Victoria started up the staircase, laughing lightly. "Charlie, we were in the same arithmancy class two years ago. On the seventh floor."

"Were we really?" He feigned an expression of supreme surprise. "I slept through every one of Professor Lestat's classes that year. I would never have passed my O.W.L.s if you hadn't helped me. My mother would have had my head." He made a slicing motion at his throat, then stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes at Victoria, eliciting more laughter from her. The crowds were gone now; it was only the two of them left wandering the roving staircases.

"So," Charles began when they stepped onto the third floor. "What do you think of the new headmaster?"

Victoria chewed her lip thoughtfully as they starter up another flight. "She seems wonderful, honestly. I actually ran into her in the herbology greenhouses before dinner."

"Did you?"

Victoria nodded. "She was very kind. I get this feeling about her...she seems like she would be good for Hogwarts."

Charles shrugged. "Anyone will be better than Headmaster Creighton."

Victoria stifled a giggle. "He must have been three hundred."

"Do you remember his welcome to the first-years last year?" Charles laid his hand over his heart and squinted over a pair of pretend eyeglasses. "Work hard at your students and respect your fellow studies! Above all, trust in the dust!" Charlie finished with a flourish, then pretended to fall back asleep on his imaginary podium.

Victoria let out a massive laugh, and was promptly shushed by a roving ghost. The lady continued on her way, trailing a misty chain from the back of her skirt. Charles wagged his finger at Victoria knowingly and skipped up the last few steps to the fourth floor landing.

"We must be getting close now, Quill. We're higher than the clouds." To illustrate his point, Charles waltzed to the window, where he peered out over the grounds.

"One more flight, then we'll have reached the staircase to the tower."

"Crack on then," Charles replied triumphantly, racing Victoria up the next flight of stairs. Her sides were heaving when she reached the top, half from laughter and half from the climb.

"I don't know how you Ravenclaws do it," Charles wheezed. "We must have climbed three hundred steps by now."

"Three hundred and eighty-three," Victoria supplied. "I counted the steps to the fifth floor landing my first year here."

Charles looked at her with an expression of confusion and admiration. "That's very strange."

Victoria blushed. "I just...I didn't want to forget anything about this place. I want to remember everything."

Charles smiled softly, and Victoria felt at ease at once, aside from the butterflies humming in her stomach. He opened his mouth to speak, but then thought better of it, choosing instead to gaze at Victoria with appreciation.

The moment was broken by a very wet snore from a painting of a stout countryman. He rolled over on his chaise, displaying his backside to the empty hall. After a few terse grumbles about pears, the rotund gentleman fell back into a silent slumber.

Charles couldn't stop his grin from breaking his serious visage. "Well, this is where I leave you then."

Victoria bit down on the inside of her cheek. "That's what it looks like." After a beat, she hurriedly said, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Charles began to back down the steps, watching Victoria mischievously. "You might. I'll look for you in study tomorrow." He turned to skip down the stairs, but not before bidding Victoria goodnight with a flourish of his arm.

Victoria sighed luxuriously. She had to stop herself from dancing to the Ravenclaw tower stairwell. She could have leapt over the waxing moon, her spirits were so high. She entered the alcove to take the last two hundred and fifty eight steps to the common room when an arm shot out from the cover of darkness and pulled her in to the corner.

A shriek flew to her lips, but the glint of Sarah's blonde bob in the candlelight turned the scream into a sigh.

"Sarah! I was waiting for you after dinner, but you had disappeared!"

"I was making a beeline for you, until I saw Charles Brantley doing the same!" Sarah grinned, her teeth pale against the dark. "You're welcome. I decided to wait for you here, so you could give me all the grimy details."

Victoria felt a pink hue crowd her cheeks, and was grateful for the cover of the night. "He just wanted to stretch a bit before bed. So I said he could accompany me upstairs."

"Ooooooooooh," Sarah enunciated, whooping softly. "How rooohhmanticcc."

"We're friends, Sarah!" Victoria insisted, even as she wished it weren't so simple.

"Yeah, you and I are. But Charles Brantley and Victoria Quill are Meant. To. Be." Sarah punctuated each word with a shake of her head.

Victoria laughed her off. "You're impossible. I don't know where you get your delusions."

"I'll have you know that Professor Trelawney calls my 'delusions' a gift, Victoria. A gift," she said pointedly, as she disappeared back into the darkness. "Charles Brantley is in your future," Sarah said hauntingly, drifting away through the shadows. Victoria could still hear her taunting the ghosts as she skipped down to her dungeons.


	2. Humble Beginnings

The first week went by in a whirlwind. Victoria's mind was a blur of faces and classes and lessons. She hardly had any time at all to herself until the week drew to a close and she could finally take in a few blessed breaths.

"I mean I knew year six was going to be difficult but I just didn't think we'd be this busy all of the time!" she griped to Rosa on the Quidditch pitch. A tendril of her long blonde hair was whipped out of her bun, and Rosa tucked it back in for her deftly.

"You're taking year seven classes, Victoria." Rosa pulled the scrap of paper containing Victoria's schedule from the book in her lap, agonizing over it. "Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. Honors Herbology. Charms for Specialized Use. Arithmancy Course D." She dropped her hands into her lap, a look of beautiful confusion on her face. "I didn't even know we offered a D course."

Victoria leaned back, putting her elbows on the wooden bench behind her. "Maybe I'll just take it easy next year."

Rosa snorted. It was very unbecoming of her, for someone who was always concerned with being becoming. "You could never take it easy. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself." She put Victoria's schedule back into her book before it got taken by the wind, and adjusted her scarf against the strong gales that whipped around the girls. "Oh, look!" she said, sitting up suddenly, her mittened fingers at the rails. "There's Pax!"

Paxton was walking on to the pitch with the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch hopefuls. Victoria could hardly believe her eyes as she peered down on the Bludger-bait, but Rosa was right. There was Pax, wearing a makeshift chest strap of pillows and adjusting his wireframe glasses nervously. Victoria nearly laughed aloud, but Rosa's reverent expression kept her silent.

"Did you tell him we'd be watching try-outs?"

Rosa nodded, her eyes trained on their friend. "I asked him to come along, but he said he had other plans. I didn't realize he would be trying out for the team!" She suddenly looked to Victoria, her eyes heavy with worry. "Oh, Victoria, you think he knows how to fly, doesn't he? I've never seen him on a broomstick."

Victoria pondered this for a moment, trying to remember a time when Pax had boarded a broomstick. "Well...he must have learned in the first-year class...but I don't remember if he was good or bad..."

"Oh." Rosa's mittens clasped together.

"You do know that he's just trying to impress you, right?"

"Don't be silly, Victoria. Paxton isn't interested in me." But the desperate hope Victoria saw in her eyes told a very different story.

It had started two years ago. Victoria, Rosa, and Pax had been fast friends ever since the spring term of first-year. But Rosa and Pax hadn't been ga-ga over each other until the Yule Ball their fourth year. While Sarah and Victoria had ditched their dates to hide under a table eating bon-bons and grabbing at the ankles of unlucky passersby, Rosa and Pax had been thrown together after their dates were found surreptitiously snogging in the girl's lavatory. Sarah and Victoria watched as they found each other on the parquet dance floor of the Great Hall. Victoria was amazed. She had never seen this side of them. Rosa was soft and giggly, while Paxton was an attentive gentleman. When the band finished their final song, Rosa had thrown her arms around Paxton's neck, her eyes aglow, and pressed her lips to his. Paxton's facade crumbled, and he left Rosa there on the dance floor after he unceremoniously disentangled himself from her. Rosa had spent the rest of the night crying to Victoria in their dormitory, in all her blue and gray finery, until she fell asleep on Victoria's bed. The next day, they both acted as though nothing had changed, but Victoria knew better. The two were secretly smitten with one another, but it was only secret to the two of them. It was very much apparent to everyone else.

"Double trouble today, I see." Sarah flopped down next to Victoria gracelessly. She'd been down on the pitch assisting the Slytherin captain, Lucien, in vetting the new recruits. She was dressed in her Beater pads, and Victoria could see a bruise beginning to form on her forearm. Sarah flashed a smile at Rosa, exposing her split lip that was beginning to swell. "Girls? How did I look out there?"

"I'm sure you'll make the team," Rosa said, not even glancing in her direction. Sarah frowned.

"You took those hits like a champ, Sarah," Victoria supplied. Sarah had a habit of using herself as a human shield against the Bludgers, instead of utilizing her habit. She found it heroic, and liked the array of golden purple bruises she was often covered in from hard hits. It made her an invaluable member of the Slytherin Quidditch team, a sacrificial lamb of sorts.

"What are we watching?" Sarah asked, nodding to Rosa's gaze. Rosa held her breath as the Ravenclaws boarded their brooms and took to the air. Her eyes followed Paxton unwaveringly; her cheeks were pink in excitement and anticipation. She couldn't help herself from leaping to her feet and shouting.

"Hi, Pax!" she yelled, waving her arms above her head in a fury. As he zoomed past them, Victoria could have sworn she saw him smile.

"Wow," Sarah breathed. "He's a natural up there!"

And she was right. Paxton had taken to the air like a bird in flight. He dipped and ebbed in the sky, following the wind, drawing figure eights in the clouds. Rosa could hardly contain herself. She was jumping and hollering to the disdain of the other Ravenclaws who had come to watch the tryouts. The flyers were specks against the overcast sky, zooming around the pitch at breakneck speeds. Victoria felt the gusts against her face as a pair of potential Seekers flew by, hoping to catch the Golden Snitch and win a spot on the team. Victoria had always admired the Seekers, the way they fearlessly dove after the Snitch and bobbed through the other players to follow the little golden ball. Quidditch made her heart soar, but she preferred to sit in the stands much more than on a broomstick in the pitch. Flying around on the flimsy wooden stick was terrifying in her opinion, but it was that same thrill that made Quidditch so fun to watch.

"There, there!" Rosa cried, pointing to the southernmost end of the field. Paxton and a collection of eight other Ravenclaws were waiting for the Quaffle to be thrown. There was only one Chaser position vacant for the upcoming season, so naturally, the competition was ruthless. They all hovered there expectantly while the Ravenclaw captain, Matilda French, walked to the center of the field to take his broom. The two current Chasers, Roland and James, flew up to show the recruits the ropes.

Ravenclaw had won the Cup the past two years, but Sarah assured Victoria that Slytherin would be coming for their prize this season. Gryffindor tryouts had taken place earlier that morning, and what they lacked in coordination, they made up for in daring stunts. Slytherin students were driven hard by their brooding captain and fearless leader, which made them a formidable foe in the quest for the cup. Victoria could hardly wait for the first match against Slytherin.

Paxton had made his first triumphant goal, and the Ravenclaws threw their hands into the air in jubilation. He shook his fist at the sky and flashed a grin to the girls in the stands. Rosa stamped her feet in excitement.

"He's got to make the team, he just has to. He's brilliant!"

* * *

"Quill! I didn't see you at tryouts today."

Victoria looked up to see Charlie sauntering across the courtyard to the stone benches she and Sarah had made their haven for the afternoon. Sarah looked to Victoria with her brows raised, and snapped her Practical Candle Magick textbook shut.

"I missed the Hufflepuffs. I couldn't roll out of bed that early, especially on a Saturday."

Charles grinned, toeing the dirt in front of them. "We're all up as soon as the chefs start banging around in the kitchen, so I claimed the field for 7 AM tryouts." He puffed out his chest proudly. "Did you hear? I'm captain this year?"

"Reeeeally?" Sarah inquired, nodding to Victoria. "Do you plan on turning around the Puffs?"

"You're on the Slytherin team, aren't you?" Charles playfully prodded Sarah's ego, and it worked. She frowned and opened her book, sticking her nose deep down into the parchment.

"I'll make sure I won't miss a match then," Victoria supplied, garnering a wide smile from Charles. "I can't promise I'll be cheering for the Hufflepuffs though."

"I'll look for you in the stands." And Charles was off, clutching his broomstick in his hand.

"I won't miss a match then," Sarah teased, poking Victoria's side with her foot. But the smirk from her face was wiped clean when her eyes found the upper battlements of the castle. Victoria turned to see what had caught Sarah's eye.

It was Headmaster Seraphim. She stood at the window of the Headmaster's Office, looking down on the courtyards below. A golden circlet kept her long silver waves out of her face, and she wore a magenta robe buttoned all the way to her chin. Her bell sleeves swept the windowpane as she drew the curtains shut.

"What is it with you?" Victoria asked, turning back to Sarah. Her eyes were still watching the swinging curtains, an expression Victoria had never seen before clouding her features.

"I have a terrible feeling about that woman. I can't say what it is. But there's something about her that doesn't sit well with me. There's a darkness in her aura. It's murky to me."

Victoria let out a burst of laughter. "Sarah. You can't be serious." But Sarah's narrowed eyes at Tori's mirthful peals of laughter said otherwise. "You've been drinking too much of Professor Trelawney's tea."

"Victoria, my dear, have I ever been wrong?"

"Loads of times. Too many to count."

Sarah frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Name one specific time I've been wrong."

"An hour ago you pronounced the word 'mahogany' as ma-hoj-anee."

"No." Sarah shook off Victoria's accusatory gaze. "I mean about something like this. Look." She scooted closer to her and lowered her voice to a murmur. "We don't know anything about this woman, and suddenly she's the new headmaster of the most prestigious wizarding school in the world? That doesn't make sense to me."

"She was a student here."

"But what else has she done? Look at all of the headmasters of Hogwarts past. They were notable and renowned witches and wizards of their time. I'd never even heard of this Shyla Sera-swim."

"Seraphim."

"Whatever. You can't tell me that that isn't unusual."

Victoria sighed. Doubt was beginning to burrow in her mind, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was just another of Sarah's unfounded gut feelings. "Headmaster Creighton died two weeks before term. They had to find someone new, and fast."

"You're telling me they couldn't have pulled a professor to act as a stand-in until they found a more suitable headmaster? They've done that before."

"Well..." Sarah had stumped her. But not for long. "How about this. Let's go and see what we can find out about her from the old school records. Maybe she was an exemplary student or something. Or maybe there's some clippings of her achievements after Hogwarts."

Sarah fell backwards in annoyance. "Research? That sounds so terribly boring. Disgusting." She sat back up, her hair bobbing around her ears like a golden cloud. "Maybe we can break into her office."

"That sounds like the worst plan."

"What if we find something horrible?"

Victoria got to her feet suddenly. "We're not going to find anything horrible. Because we're not going to break into the headmaster's office!" she whispered fervently. "We could get expelled."

Sarah turned up her nose. "When has anyone ever gotten expelled from Hogwarts? Aside from maybe Voldemort."

"Tom Riddle was never expelled, Sarah. Rubeus Hagrid was. For harboring a dangerous Acromantula. Were you paying attention at all in Care of Magical Creatures?" Victoria planted her hands on her hips in indignation.

"I don't intend on caring for any magical creatures. So no, I was not." Sarah leapt up and clasped Victoria's hands in her own, pleading with her. "Oh, Tor, come on! It would be so fun. I always heard about all of the fantastic adventures the witches and wizards had here before us! Exploring the Forbidden Forest, finding the Chamber of Secrets-"

"I don't think the Chamber of Secrets exists," Victoria said staunchly, even though she believed otherwise. She had to deter Sarah from this fool's errand.

"I want adventures, Tor! I know you do too. And our time here is almost up. Two more years!" Sarah dropped to her knees and pressed her hands to her chest, eliciting a few stares from the other students studying quietly under the trees and turrets. "Pretty, pretty please, can we at least investigate this in a fun way? A way that does not involve the library?"

"The library can be fun," Victoria said under her breath.

"No. Please, just think about it? I need my partner in crime with me. I can't do it alone."

Victoria pulled Sarah up off the ground. "You just need a look-out."

"So you'll think about it? Oh goody!" She clapped her hands together and twirled around in glee, her robes fanning out around her in a dark whirlwind.

"I didn't say that," said Victoria, but that wasn't true. Sarah had planted the seeds in her mind, and Victoria herself was beginning to wonder who Headmaster Seraphim could really be.

* * *

Although Sarah had adamantly warned against the library, the two girls found themselves there in a break between classes the following week. Sarah unceremoniously dropped her books on the table Victoria was reading at, evoking a few shushes and glares from the bookkeepers.

"Introduction to Apparition was awful this morning. I have a headache and that's from barely even apparating a few centimeters." Sarah slumped into her seat, her wand dangling from her fingertips. "In fact, I'm pretty convinced I just disappeared and reappeared in exactly the same spot."

"You'll get the hang of it, I'm sure." Victoria couldn't be torn away from her reading, as usual.

"What are you reading?" Sarah lifted the book so she could see the cover. "The Mundane and the Magical: Growing Up Muggle in a Wizarding World...Hermione Granger's biography. Of course."

"It's quite good." Victoria turned another page, and felt whiskers on her wrist. Pasta climbed over her hand and crawled onto the spine to sniff out crumbs in the crevice. Victoria absent-mindedly patted the rat as Sarah patiently waited for her to finish her reading. As she made to turn the page, Sarah slid the book out of her grasp.

"Hey!" Victoria began, but Sarah held a finger to her lips.

"I didn't come to this dusty corner of the castle to watch you read." Sarah produced a heavy tome from her knapsack. The cover was leatherbound with golden scroll. "Student records for the last century," she whispered excitedly.

"Where did you get those?"

"Room of Requirement. Obviously." Victoria rolled her eyes, but Sarah prodded her with the corner of the aged book. "See? Even Hogwarts knows something isn't quite right with this woman. It's helping us investigate." Sarah inched the book closer to Victoria's itching fingertips.

"We don't even know what years she went here! It'll take ages to go through all of the names."

"Hmm." Sarah's fingers drummed the book's cover. "She can't be younger than thirty years old. So that narrows it down...a bit."

Victoria snapped her fingers. "She said something to me in the greenhouse on the first day. It must have been...40 years since she'd been at Hogwarts."

Sarah brightened momentarily, then chewed her cheek in thought. "40 years since she'd been a student or 40 years since she'd been a professor or since she'd visited or...?"

Victoria slumped to the table in defeat. "Sarah. This is going to take far too long. And I have an exam this week in my Ghoul Studies class."

Sarah groaned, a sustained and exaggerated sound that caused a fellow Ravenclaw to snap his book together in frustration. Victoria mouthed an apology to him as he left his table, his bag swinging angrily on his shoulder.

"I will begin my investigation then. Starting in the term..." Sarah opened the front cover. A cloud of dust billowed out, settling over the table and the lampshade and the bridge of Sarah's nose. "1900-1901." She grimaced as she ran her line down the page.

Victoria couldn't help herself. "Look. You only have to look at the first-years of each term. That's only maybe 100 students each year. It's listed by house...but we don't know what house she was in."

"Why don't you go ask her?" Sarah rested her chin in her hands, blinking at Victoria slowly.

"Why would I do that?"

"She likes you. I can tell. Besides," Sarah stood, sweeping the massive book back into her bag and scooping Pasta from her perch on Victoria's biography. "Keep your friends close. And your enemies closer." And with a flourish of her robes, she was gone, disappearing behind the bookshelves and leaving Victoria in the dim glow among her books.

* * *

A cool breeze woke Victoria from her slumber. She opened her eyes to see Rosalind's glassy green eyes peering at her. Rosa's chin was rested on Victoria's duvet, and she had been blowing on Victoria's nose to get her to wake up. Victoria rolled over, pushing Rosa to the floor and pulling her pillow over her head.

"What. Is it."

"You weren't at breakfast! I was worried. I came up to find you, still sleeping!" She felt Rosa leap back onto her bed indignantly.

Victoria sighed, letting the pillow fall to the floor. "I was in the library last night studying for my exam." She squinted at the ticking alarm clock beside her bed. "If I get dressed now, I can squeeze in an extra three hours before I have to go and take it."

"You're not going to be able to do that, Victoria." Rosa leaned against the bedpost, rubbing the gauzy material of the canopy in her palm. "Headmaster Seraphim came to see me at breakfast today. She was looking for you."

Victoria sat up straight, her braids dangling at her ears. "She was?"

Rosa nodded, standing to swing around the bed post. "She wanted me to relay a message to you..."

"What was it?"

"She'd like you to come and see her in her office, posthaste." Rosa leapt back onto the downy mattress, squishing Victoria's legs in the process. "What did you do to get called to the headmaster's?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Victoria tumbled out of bed to pull on her dressing gown. She knelt to dig around in the oak chest at the foot of her bed for a clean dark robe. "I'll leave now then."

Rosa still hung at her canopy. "You'll tell me what she says?"

"Yes, yes!" Victoria was already flying down the staircase to the common room. Gentle sunlight filtered in through the tall cathedral windows. Overhead, a mural of the sparkling starry head winked at Victoria's disappearing frame.

* * *

Despite all of her accomplishments at Hogwarts, she had never been called to visit the Headmaster's Office. But due to her enraptured reading of Hogwarts: A History, she knew that the entrance to the office was behind a menacing stone gargoyle at the top of the Griffin Stairwell on the seventh floor. She took her time up those steps, suddenly wary of what the new headmistress would want with her. She couldn't stop Sarah's precautions from whirling around in her mind, consuming her with a growing uneasiness regarding Headmaster Seraphim.

Too soon, her foot found the last step and she was there on the landing, facing an ancient, towering gargoyle. It stood well above her head, its wings spread out to the corners of the landing, the stone feathers brushing the painted windows.

A password. She needed a password to gain entry. Victoria sighed, racking her exhausted brain. "Headmaster Seraphim?" she tried. No luck with that. "Shyla Seraphim?" Nothing still. She cleared her throat. "Victoria Quill?"

The gargoyle's wings fluttered, then closed. The stoic guardian stepped aside, revealing a spiraling staircase that led up into the dark recesses of the Headmaster's Tower. There was an undeniable pull Victoria felt when she ascended those steps. Like a thin thread tied around her chest, slowly pulling her up into the bright glow of the Headmaster's Office.

She had to squint against the light. With her arm raised to shield her eyes from the magnificent blaze, she reached the top of the staircase. Victoria dropped her arm and fingered the sleeves of her robe nervously as she took in her surroundings.

The circular room was awash in light. All of the windows had been thrown open to the unnaturally agreeable weather, and a slight breeze flew around the room pleasantly. Curtains of blue, filmy silk hung to the floor, rippling in the open air. The floor was carpeted in lush rugs designed in elaborate swirls and patterns. Victoria walked forward to examine the portraits that decorated the walls, portraits of headmasters and headmistresses past. Some of them were only empty chairs; their inhabitants had left to roam the other paintings of the castle. Victoria couldn't shake their eyes as they watched her turn about in the massive room, marveling at every detail.

There, on a creamy hand-table covered in lacy fabric, was the old and decrepit Sorting Hat. Though the day was warm, a fire was burning cheerily in a half-moon fireplace. Comfortable pale-green armchairs sat clustered around tall bookcases, filled with shiny new-bound books. Victoria went to it, tracing her finger along the shelf as she read the titles aloud to herself. "The Encyclopedia of Bat Eyes, Legislative Guide to the Proper Use of Magic, Nesbit's Fairy Tales..." Victoria was tempted to pluck a book from the shelf, to hear the soft crack of its spine as she opened it, feel the ancient pages between her fingertips-

"It's curious that my library is the first thing you would be drawn to." Shyla appeared on the lofted platform above Victoria, her hand resting on the banister. Her long hair was tied back into a braided bun, and her bright blue eyes flickered against her pale complexion. Sarah was right. It was impossible to tell how old she was. There were no laugh lines, no forehead wrinkles. But her eyes had seen time go by, and her hair was bleached gray and white from the years passing.

"I'm always looking to add to my collection. Do you enjoy reading, Victoria?" Her skirt swept around her ankles as she descended the stairs to the lower level of the room.

"I do," Victoria agreed, her eyes searching the floor. The toes of Shyla's silver shoes stepped into her sightline, and she looked up to see the headmistress reaching up to retrieve a book from a higher shelf.

"I think you would like this book," she said, extending the deep blue book to Victoria's already outstretched fingers. The leather was shaped in scales; the title proclaimed Merpeople: A Comprehensive Guide to their Language and Customs.

"I've seen you down wandering around the Black Lake. You're one of the only students brave enough to sit by the water's edge." Shyla took a seat in one of the creamy armchairs, pulling a Porlock hide over her lap. "Did you know there are mermaids in the Black Lake?" she asked, winking mischievously.

Victoria settled back into the armchair opposite Shyla tentatively. "I thought I saw one once...but I couldn't be sure. It might have just been a Grindylow."

Shyla threw her head back and laughed, and the sound filled Victoria with warmth. Her doubts about the headmistress were beginning to dissipate in the cheery air that surrounded the two women.

"So," Shyla began, leaning forwards like she was sharing a secret, "How have your first weeks been this term?"

"Wonderful," Victoria replied. "They always are. Hogwarts is just a place I feel most at home."

"Your parents, they're Muggles?" Shyla asked politely.

"My mother is. My father might have been." Victoria wilted into the chair, picking at the embroidery. "I can't be sure."

Shyla nodded knowingly. "My mother was a Muggle. My father was a wizard, but he didn't care for my mother and I. When I received my letter to Hogwarts, she told me that if I went to that school, I couldn't come back home. And so I didn't."

Victoria's heart twanged terribly. She felt common ground forming between her and Headmaster Seraphim. "That's terrible."

"It was for the best." Her eyes drifted to the fire, watching the flames flicker and snap on the burnished wood. "Magic is a gift no one should ever take for granted. It was the one thing that my father gave me, and my mother hated me for it." She looked back to Victoria curiously. "It's difficult, trying to mesh the Muggle and wizarding world, isn't it?"

Victoria nodded. "When I'm here," she began, "I can live my wizarding life in peace. But out there, I have to hide it."

"You're American. But you don't live there any longer?"

"We move around a lot. My mother is taking a tour of Europe at the moment. She doesn't like it when there's an entire ocean between us." Victoria laughed to herself. "The English Channel is fine, however."

Shyla smiled gently; her eyes creased pleasantly. "What about your friends? You like your fellow students?"

"Oh yes." Victoria grinned. "The other Ravenclaws were so welcoming to me. And now they're like family."

"But there's another girl, another American, who you are frequently around?"

Victoria faltered. "Er, yes. Sarah."

"How strange it is, that the two of you are the only foreign students in all of Hogwarts." Shyla crossed her ankles daintily. "Of course, with the new wizarding school opening in America, you very well may be the first and only foreign students to grace the Hogwarts halls. Did you know Sarah before you received your letter?"

Victoria was unsure how much she could reveal about their friendship. Sarah had been so adamant about distrusting the seemingly harmless woman. What was there to gain from some minor details about Sarah and Victoria's history?

"We've always been friends. For as long as I can remember. We must have met a few years before we got our letters." Victoria shifted in her seat, tucking her legs up under her. "I don't know what I would have done if Sarah hadn't gotten a letter. She's always been my best friend."

"Did the two of you know that you were witches?"

The questions stopped bothering Victoria; she began to see them only as polite questions about her life before Hogwarts. She should feel honored that the headmistress was taking an interest in her, after all.

"Sarah would sometimes be able to know things before they happened. Her parents are both Muggles. My mother would tell me stories...I think that somehow she knew that I was different."

"You seem to be very close with Sarah." She tilted her head to the side, examining Victoria carefully. "But are you sure that she's the best person to have in your life?"

Victoria felt sick. Somehow she knew that this would be coming. But she couldn't reveal her discomfort to Headmaster Seraphim. "She's always been by my side, no matter what. I couldn't really imagine life without her."

Shyla leaned forward, her hands pressing together. Her sleeves formed a cave around her palms, and Victoria again caught a glimpse of a green vine wrapped around her wrist. "Sometimes, bonds that seem deep, especially between friends, are nothing more than dangerous illusions. Sometimes, Victoria, your friends don't have your best interests at heart. And from what I have seen from Sarah, and what I have gathered from her professors...well, to be frank, I would advise you to distance yourself from her." Victoria's surprise must have shown on her face, because Shyla went back through her words carefully. "Victoria, you're a bright young witch. I've seen your O.W.L.s and your professors all speak very highly of you. You treat your fellow students with respect, you excel in your classes, and you're a welcome presence in any classroom. Sarah, on the other hand, is careless. Her demeanor and attitude towards her studies is alarming, and her positive relationships with other students are few and far between. I really believe that you should perhaps reconsider your friendship." Shyla stood, apparently finished with their meeting. "I have another matter I must attend to, and I believe you have an exam this afternoon." She picked up the book Victoria had placed on an ottoman in front of the fire and pressed it into Victoria's hands. "Please, visit me anytime. My door, and my library," she added, smiling radiantly at Victoria, "Are always open to you."

Victoria got to her feet, ready to bolt from the room. However, she composed a careful smile and held the book so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She was ushered out of the office by a smiling Shyla, and only when the gargoyle sealed the entrance behind her, did she allow herself to take in a deep breath. Her mind raced. Should she tell Sarah about their meeting? Sarah. Victoria thwacked her forehead with her palm. She was right there, in the headmistress's office, and didn't look around much at all. She was distracted by the beautifully bound books in the library.

Her book. She looked down to the title in her hands. It was her ticket back into the office. The next chance she got, she would not waste.


	3. The Lizard's Skin

“Would you care for some tea, my dear?”

Professor Trelawney shuffled to Victoria, grasping her hands weakly. Her numerous jeweled rings hung around her fingers loosely; her skin felt brittle and papery.

“No thank you, ma’am.”

“She’d love some, Professor,” Sarah supplied, shooting Victoria a glare. Professor Trelawney nodded absentmindedly and set off for the teapot that was only a few meters away. Victoria had a feeling that her journey to the teapot would take an eternity, so she sat on one of the stools to bide her time. She peered into the misty crystal ball, seeing…nothing. Sarah watched Victoria carefully, stirring her own cup of honeyed tea with her wand.

“Sarah,” Victoria chided, and Sarah coolly replaced her wand with her spoon, spinning it magically as she drummed her fingertips on the table. Her dark blonde brows were raised in an accusatory expression.

“You reek of that woman,” Sarah said before Victoria could speak. She had asked Victoria to meet her in Professor Trelawney’s classroom, Sarah’s usual haunt.

“You’ve been to see her,” Sarah continued.

“I think that Rosa told you that.”

Sarah straightened. “Maybe so,” she said, in a low voice. “But my intuition had already confirmed it before I spoke with Rosa.”

Victoria scoffed as Professor Trelawney shakily placed a cup of tea in front of her. The china cup was rosy and decorated in soft lavender spirals. Victoria noted there was a chip in the cup and the saucer didn’t match, but she kept this information to herself.

“Stir your leaves, dear.” Professor Trelawney stirred her frail hand in the air in front of her, before she wandered back to her office. “Lock the door when you leave, my dears. I must go and look into the beyond. My third eye requires some exercise.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Sarah, I-”

“What did you find out?” Sarah’s spoon clattered to a stop and she leaned forwards eagerly.

“Sarah, I think you’re right.” Victoria paused. Her eyes looked down to the murky waters of her tea, watching the spiraling liquid go around and around and around. “Sarah,” she started, “We’re friends, right?”

“Of course we are! Best friends!” she emphasized.

“And you would never try to…keep me from living up to my fullest potential, right? As a witch?”

To Victoria’s surprise, Sarah softened. Her eyes were cast downward as she took a sip of her tea. “Tor, you know I would never ever do that.” Her hand faltered before finding the edge of the table. “Is this about me asking you to break into the Headmaster’s office? I was only half teasing, you know.”

“No, no.” Victoria couldn’t keep the smile from her face. She knew Shyla’s accusations were nonsense.

“Good.” A smile broke through Sarah’s concerned demeanor, brightening her expression. She fingered the end of her green and silver tie, pulling at it nervously. “Finish your tea. Maybe your leaves will tell us something important.”

Victoria didn’t exactly believe in the entire school of divination, but she would never tell Sarah that. Sarah pinned all of her dreams on becoming an adept Seer. Before the two came to Hogwarts, there had been instances in which Sarah’s so-called ‘gift’ had made some eerily accurate predictions. But when the ancient Professor Trelawney took her under her wing, Sarah’s interest in the occult ballooned into something that was much less nuanced. She couldn’t be found without a few smokeless candles in her bag, and stray tea leaves in her pockets. Her Tarot cards weren’t far from her fingers, and she took to shuffling them absentmindedly in class, a habit that irked more than a few of her professors. Back when Victoria and Sarah had been in the same classes, the quiet sound of shuffling cards at the back of the classroom was always an indicator of Sarah’s impending boredom.

“Let me look.” Sarah moved the cup out of Victoria’s grasp, taking care not to shake the leaves in the watery base. She stared into the eye of the cup, her nose almost touching the brim.

“Looks to be….an animal of some kind.”

“If you tell me it’s a black dog, I’m leaving,” Victoria warned. One of Sarah’s favorite tricks in her divination classes was to proclaim imminent death on all of the students that were partnered with her. The first few she tried it on had left the room blubbering to Sarah’s enjoyment, but nearly all of Hogwarts was wise to her wiles now.

“No, no. A lizard of some kind.” Sarah turned the cup to Victoria, illustrating the animal with her wand. “See the tail. It isn’t a snake, it’s got legs, see?” Sarah pulled the cup back, mumbling to herself, “Though a snake would be accurate in describing the new headmaster.” She tilted the cup up, to swirl the leaves a bit more. “Now it’s a flower. Five petals. A magic number.”

“What does this mean?” Victoria asked, patiently waiting for Sarah to read far too closely into the dark moss of her cup.

“Well, you’re the master arithmancer. What does five mean?”

Victoria folded her hands in her lap, thinking hard. “The number five symbolizes freedom, or a lack thereof. The number five can be a warning for troubles ahead, but it could also be an indicators of problems in the past.”

“Thank you. Perfect. So we’ve got a flower of freedom, and an unidentified lizard.” Sarah leaned back in her chair, frowning at the tapestries that decorated the ceiling.


End file.
